Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2024-50516 is a stored cross-site scripting issue in the WordPress Countdown & Clock plugin. A successful attack could make malicious script run for another user who views affected plugin output. The published score is medium, and the CVSS vector indicates high privileges and user interaction are required.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate priority. It is not listed as known exploited, but stored XSS in WordPress can affect user trust and administrative sessions. Prioritize inventory and remediation for public sites using the plugin.
Technical view
The issue is CWE-79 improper neutralization during webpage generation in adamskaat Countdown & Clock, package countdown-builder, reported as affecting versions through 3.0.8. CVSS 3.1 is 5.9 with network access, low complexity, high privileges, required user interaction, changed scope, and low confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to WordPress sites that have Countdown & Clock/countdown-builder installed at affected versions through 3.0.8. The bundle does not prove exposure for sites without the plugin or identify affected hosting platforms beyond WordPress plugin usage.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not cite active exploitation, and KEV status is false. Stored XSS can become business-relevant when privileged content editors or administrators can save unsafe content that later executes in another user's browser.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to CVE metadata and Patchstack reference data. The affected version data is somewhat inconsistent in the bundle, so validation should rely on installed plugin identity and authoritative vendor/Patchstack remediation details.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for Countdown & Clock/countdown-builder.
- Check Patchstack and vendor guidance for confirmed remediation.
- Upgrade only to a vendor-confirmed fixed version when available.
- If no fix is confirmed, consider disabling the plugin.
- Restrict plugin configuration access to trusted administrators.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Countdown & Clock is installed on each WordPress site.
- Record installed plugin versions and compare against through 3.0.8.
- Review plugin pages or generated output for untrusted saved content.
- Check logs for unexpected edits to countdown content or settings.
- Confirm remediation status against vendor or Patchstack guidance.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-79: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2024-50516 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.9 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L1.73.7PatchstackVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.9MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/countdown-builder/vulnerability/wordpress-countdown-clock-plugin-2-8-0-6-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cveCVE reference, Patchstack · vdb-entry
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.